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140 questions about Broken Hip bone. Either way, she will require surgery. Sometimes after fixing the bone with plates and pins the patient is not supposed to put weight through that leg for a while after surgery. After replacing a hip, she should be able to put weight through it right away but there will be other motions that she has to be careful to avoid to protect the hip from dislocating. All these restrictions typically are advised for 6-8 weeks after surgery. Your doctor will notify you of those precautions. Otherwise, I can tell you the typical course of recovery here in the
U.S. One has surgery and spends 3-5 days in the hospital until they are medically stable to transition to another lower level of care. A physical and occupational therapist will be in the day after surgery to help your mum start to move in bed and to perhaps sit at the edge of the bed, stand, and even walk a few steps. In these early days the patient is dealing mostly with potential side effects of the anesthesia and blood loss like nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and inability to remain upright due to dizziness. Very soon, she will be walking with a walker and with assistance. She will then transition to going back home with assistance and home therapy or to an acute rehab center where she will get more therapy to work on walking, strengthening, walking up/down stairs if necessary, and self-care. She could stay there anywhere from 1-2 weeks. Upon returning home she will likely be walking with a walker or cane, will need a commode to raise her toilet seat level, and will be comfortably walking household distances. She may also require further outpatient therapy to return to her baseline ability level. There is so much variability in the recovery from a hip fracture, largely based on one’s prior mobility level, the severity of the fracture, and any other illnesses or health factors that may have an effect on the body’s ability to heal. Overall, I think you will be surprised at how quickly she can get back to walking and enjoying her life.

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My mom broke her left hip (actually, her femur, right below the ball joint, what most people call a broken hip) five years ago at age 81. Her doctor did surgery to implant three screws to hold the bone together, and had her walking down the hallway the next day. She never took a pain pill, and was able to do rehab at home, with me only having to stop by once a day to check on her. She had an amazingly quick recovery.

Two years ago, my mom started having mild symptoms of dementia, but insisted on staying in her home. This past November at age 86, my mom broke her right hip, in the exact same place as the other hip. She didn't call me - I found out when I stopped by her house the next day. She was actually still walking (limping) around on it. I took her to the ER, and a surgeon (not the same one as before) implanted three screws the following day. This time, my mom stayed in the hospital a week, during which she was not allowed to put weight on the leg, then was transferred to a rehab facility. (While in the hospital, she kept forgetting where she was, and tried pull out her catheter and walk to the bathroom. I had to stay up there the whole time.) She stayed at the rehab almost a month, usually in a lot of pain, but never thinking to tell the nurse or ask for pain meds. She would just get very irritable and anxious, and the nurses would call me to come up there to calm her down.

I finally got the doctor to put in her chart that she didn't have to ask for a pain pill, that the nurses could use their own judgement, and this worked better. My mom came home after four weeks to live with me and my family, which has been a tough, but overall great, experience so far. A physical therapist came to our house for three weeks, although I had a very hard time getting Mom to do her exercises between times. Also, she didn't remember who he was from time-to-time. Now, five months after the fracture, the bone is knit, but she still has quite a bit of pain and walks with difficulty, using a walker.

On our last visit to the orthopedic surgeon, he tried to figure out why she was still in so much pain. Turns out, after she broke the first hip, her leg was shorter. This either developed or aggravated a curvature in her lower back, which makes it painful for her to walk or do many of the exercises she should be doing. I wish with all my heart I'd realized that we should have gotten her fitted with orthotics after the first break. This might have prevented some of the deterioration of her spine.

One thing that's showing some promise: I had a lot of trouble getting my mom to do her exercises on her own - she just couldn't remember what to do without constant prompting. So, I got one of my kids to use our camcorder to record me going through her exercise routine, slowly, talking the whole way, telling and showing her what to do, then transferred it to a DVD. Now I can put in the DVD and she will go through the routine on her own, for the most part. She's supposed to do the routine three times a day, so I go through it once with her, and use the DVD the other two times. It has saved a lot of wear and tear on my nerves, and she's just as happy to do it independently.

We are having to do a lot of stretching exercises right now because her muscles have gotten very tight. My mom refuses to go to a masseur, but this would probably do her a lot of good. I'm now looking into getting a recumbent bike, as it would help with strength, muscle tone, and range of motion.

Mom doesn't want to walk outside or go to a gym because she's embarrassed to have people see she needs a walker. I've found one of the best ways to get her to walk is to take her to the grocery store and get her to push the cart. (I walk beside and help guide it.) We go up and down every aisle, which is a good amount of walking. Mom has people to interact with, and she doesn't have to use an actual walker - she really enjoys this little taste of life the way it used to be for her.

I hope something in here helps. Stay positive, and don't hesitate to think outside the box. Good luck!

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